Can Your Heart Really Lie?
by FanficFemale
Summary: Alien Force: When Ben has to make a very tough decision, will his heart lead him to make the right choice or will it unknowingly lead him into heartbreak and being betrayed by the one he trusted the most? Bwen
1. A Late Night Shocker

**A/N: This takes place during Alien Force after "Grounded" but before "Voided".**

**Disclaimer for entire story: I don't own Ben 10/Alien Force.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**A Late-Night Shocker **

It was around one in the morning when Ben heard a strange sound coming from outside. At first he ignored it believing it was some kind of small animal picking through the garbage, especially around this time of night. However when the noise continued on and seemed to be getting louder, Ben groggily decided to get out of bed and see what the source of the noise was. He went to his window and took a quick look outside, scanning around the area. Yet he became more alert and awake when his eyes eventually landed on a strange figure that was just across the street from his house. He couldn't make out what the figure was because it was still dark out and the street lights didn't provide enough light. Not wanting to be seen, he immediately moved to the side of his window making sure he was out of sight and continued to watch the figure cautiously as it slowly moved closer to his house. It wasn't till the figure reached his front yard that he could see that the figure was actually the shape of a person. Though he still couldn't make out who the person was since the outside house light was off around this time and he had his bedroom light off to avoid drawing the person's attention to himself. He watched as the person was now walking at a snail's pace on the pathway that lead to his front door.

This however made Ben very suspicious, for all he knew it could be a DNAlien in disguise and it was trying to catch him when his guard was down.

"B…Ben," the person said in a very raspy but glad voice while moving closer to the front door.

Ben's eyes narrowed and slowly raised his left arm with the Omnitrix on it, while he put his right hand on the Omnitrix ready to activate it when the person came close enough for him to make a move. The person was now only a few feet away from the door and Ben had already turned the dial to the alien he wanted, getting ready to press down on the device. Yet just when his right hand was just over the dial, the person suddenly fell down on the ground.

"Ben, please…help…me," whispered the person in a begging tone full of pain before the person appeared too had gone into unconsciousness.

When Ben heard this, he froze in surprise not expecting a cry of help to come from the mysterious person. However, hearing the person make a painful groaning sound snapped Ben out of his frozen state and decided to go over to the person himself. Ben went outside through his window and cautiously inched his way closer to the person on the ground. As he got closer to the person, his eyes widened as he was finally able to clearly see who it was.

"Gwen!" Ben shouted urgently, seeing his cousin with numerous injuries all over her body.

He quickly made his way to Gwen and kneeled down beside her, fully looking her over. Ben was taken aback at how awful Gwen looked right then. Her cloths looked worn and were torn, leaving only shreds of the clothing barely covering her, to which Ben had to fight back a blush at. Unfortunately because of this Gwen's body was mostly exposed, allowing Ben to see many dirty and grimy smudges all over her body. He also could see various deep and bloody cuts, scars, and bruises that were scattered all over her arms, legs, and chest. Her hair was unruly and had been clearly burnt in some areas of it making its length now to her shoulders. But to Ben it looked like her face was the worst part. On the side of her face was a large purple bruise, blood was running out of her nose like a waterfall, her lips were busted and bleeding, her eyes looked tired, red, and puffy, and when Ben moved her bangs from her face he saw a huge bloody gush on her forehead.

Anger was growing inside Ben at seeing Gwen in such a state and at the thought of the something or someone that did this to her. His hands were clenched tightly into fists, his body became tense, and his eyes carried a raging fury in them. However his anger faltered as soon as he felt a pair of soft, yet tattered hands gently wrap around his fists. His eyes softened as he looked down at the barely conscious Gwen.

"Don't," replied Gwen quietly, staring at Ben with pleading eyes as she made her grip tighter around his fists.

Ben understood what Gwen was telling him, so he took a deep calming breath and unclenched his fists as he let his anger dissipate. Now that he was calm, he was able to think more clearly and realized he needed to take care of Gwen first before he did anything else. Looking at her again he could tell she was close to passing out at any second.

"Gwen, try to stay awake for me ok?" Ben responded in a serious tone.

After she gave a quick nod in conformation, Ben carefully lifted her up in his arms and began carrying her to his room. While he was carrying her, he noticed that she was burring herself deeper into his chest and her hands were tightly gripping his shirt. Ben was so stunned by her actions that he almost lost his balance, but managed to catch himself in time. He resumed his walk towards his window while his eyes made occasional glances down at his wounded cousin who was pressing herself securely in his arms.

"_What or who could have done this to her? I've never seen her look so vulnerable before, Darn it! How could I let something like this happen to her?! I should've stayed with her yesterday to make sure she was ok. But no, I just had to leave her with Kevin and go on my date with Julie. And now look what happened. I'm supposed to be the hero and save the world, yet I couldn't even protect my own cousin and from the looks of it Kevin couldn't either. That settles it; I'm not leaving her alone with Kevin like that again. From now on all of us are going to be double dating!"_ thought Ben with determination.

"Ben," called Gwen, bringing his attention to her.

"Huh?" was Ben's simple reply as he was torn away from his thoughts.

Gwen rolled her eyes at this, but then a small smile adored her lips.

"You've been standing by your window for the past three minutes now," she answered normally, with a hint of humor in her voice.

"Oh," said Ben as a small blush appeared on his cheeks, before he quickly went through the window into his room with Gwen still in his arms.

When Gwen saw him blushing from embarrassment, she couldn't help letting out a small laugh in response. Despite how soft her laugh was, Ben had heard it bringing a light smile to his face.

"Well, you seem to be getting better," Ben jokingly stated as he placed Gwen carefully down on his bed.

Gwen instantly gained a stern expression on her face and slowly placed her hand on Ben's cheek.

"I always feel better when I'm with you Ben," declared Gwen firmly with clear confidence in her eyes.

Ben was now feeling very uncomfortable and nervous, not knowing how to handle Gwen's sudden display of strong emotion towards him. So he quickly moved out of Gwen's reach and began walking to the door.

"Um…I…um, better get the first aid kit. You just…um stay there," Ben stuttered nervously while avoiding eye contact with Gwen as he was gradually walking backwards to the door.

Gwen blinked in confusion at his actions, but then what he said had registered in her brain.

"Right, because I could just get up and go to the kitchen to get a snack," she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes a second time that night.

Ben relaxed some at seeing Gwen back to her usual self.

"_A teasing, know-it-all Gwen, I can handle. An emotional, fragile Gwen, not so much,"_ Ben thought as a smile crossed his face.

"Very funny, I'll be right back," announced Ben taking a short glance at Gwen before leaving his room and started walking to the bathroom.

"Watch out for that ball!" he heard Gwen yell from his room.

Ben continued walking as he looked back in the direction of his room in confusion.

"What ba…ow," grunted Ben as he just tripped over his soccer ball that somehow ended up in the middle hallway.

"Never mind," replied back Ben as he picked himself and his soccer ball off the floor and continued walking down the hall until he heard another comment from Gwen.

"You're such a dweb, you know that?!" she shouted back humorously.

This caused a huge grin to form on his lips as he again faced the direction of his room.

"Yeah, you too!" he yelled back with the same amount of humor in his voice before heading on to the bathroom.

Ben had now bandaged and tended all of Gwen's wounds, and was grateful to find that nothing had been broken or too serious that couldn't have been taken care of. Nevertheless, she still was too weak and sore to move too much on her own.

"Guess that takes care of everything," announced Ben entering his room after he put the first aid kit back where it belonged.

"Actually…there is one more thing," Gwen replied who was sitting up on the side of the bed facing Ben's direction.

"What's that?" he asked her curiously.

"Take a good look at me Ben," she told Ben in a serious voice.

Ben raised a brow at this, but did what she told him anyway. He scanned her from bottom to top trying to figure out what Gwen was trying to tell him. However, Ben's focus started slipping as he kept getting distracted by how much of Gwen's body was being exposed to him. Since most of her stockings were torn and her skirt was ripped around its edges, he was able to get a good look at her beautifully long and shaped legs. Given that the only thing left of her upper garments being her white under shirt with most of the bottom part of it torn off, he also got a nice view of her cute petite stomach. Not to mention that the shirt was made of a thin material and showed the form of her round breasts through the fabric perfectly, which Ben couldn't help staring at for a few extra seconds. Lastly, he gazed at her face, Despite the injuries on it, her face still held its delicate and gorgeous frame. Overall he noticed; that even with the bandages covering most of her body, she was still the attractive looking female.

"I…uh…don't see anything," stammered Ben as avoided looking at Gwen while trying to hide his blush at the same time.

"I'm going to have to say it, aren't I?" Gwen asked him though it came out more like a statement.

When she received no response from him she knew that she would have to tell him directly, so she took a quick breath trying to keep herself under control.

"I need…to get cleaned up," she declared in a low voice, now making her the one to try and hide her blush from her cousin.

After he heard this he took another glance at Gwen and took note of all the dirt and grime spots on her cloths and a few in her tangled hair that were still present.

"Yeah, I guess you do. I'll go start a bath for you," Ben stated as he started to leave the room.

"Ben, you do remember that I can barely move right?" asked Gwen, which stopped Ben cold in his tracks.

"_Oh man! Maybe I should've told my mom Gwen was here when I ran into her on my way to the bathroom then we wouldn't be having this problem. But if I told her how Gwen looked it would most likely cause other problems that we can't afford right now. Especially since I still don't know what happened to her. I guess I have no choice, I have to…help her,"_ thought Ben as a sudden nervousness started building inside him.

So Ben had no choice but to carry her in his arms all the way to the bathroom while making sure he didn't run into either one of his parents. Once he reached the bathroom, he helped Gwen sit on the edge of the tub. When he was sure she was fine for the time being, he quickly went to his room to get a pair of Gwen's pajamas from the large duffel bag he kept hidden in his closet. He was grateful that they decided to keep some of the other's cloths in their house for emergencies like this, especially when the time they agreed to do this their parents didn't know about their dangerous adventures.

Ben with the clothing in his hands went back to the bathroom where he saw Gwen starting to remove her garments. He immediately turned away from her and decided to lock the bathroom door to temporarily distract him from the site. However, he realized he had to put down the cloths he was carrying and the only place he could do that was on the toilet top that was right next to the bathtub. So he swiftly walked in the direction the toilet was trying to avoid seeing Gwen at the same time. Yet when he reached his destination, he caught a glance of Gwen through the corner of his eye and noticed how much she was really struggling in attempting to take off her cloths.

"Do you…uh….need any help?" Ben asked hesitantly, still trying to avoid staring at Gwen.

"No, I think I can do this part," she answered causally, putting her focus mainly on the task she was trying to accomplish.

"You sure?" he asked worryingly, glancing again at her when he could see her fighting the pain while she moved.

"I'm sure I…OW! …can't," replied Gwen in defeat, immediately stopping what she was doing.

"Great," muttered Ben in a dejected tone before moving closer to Gwen with a determined look on his face.

"_Ok Ben, you defeated numerous aliens, survived the Null Void, and most importantly stomached your grandfather's cooking. You can do this,"_ he thought to himself encouragingly.

Once he reached Gwen, he cautiously began pealing off her torn and worn garments. She had already managed to take off her shoes so he decided to start with her shirt. Ben gently lifted it up over her head while Gwen carefully raised her hands up so it would be easier for him to take the shirt off. As soon as the shirt was off he went straight to taking off her skirt, trying to avoid looking at her upper body. The skirt was easier to take off since he just had to pull it down and slide it off and did the same thing with her stockings.

Now the hardest part was left, removing her underwear. Ben had to pause and take a huge breath before he continued. Gwen noticing this decided to turn her back towards him hoping that this would make it easier for both of them to handle the last part. This seemed to work since Ben was able to take off her bra without him having to worry about accidentally seeing her breasts. And lastly he, with Gwen's help, was able to slip off her panties swiftly without anything being seen.

After the last of her clothing was off, Ben put the pile of dirty cloths to the side and then started fiddling with the faucet for the tub. Seeing this, Gwen instantly grabbed his hand firmly to stop him from turning on the water. Ben was caught off guard when he felt her hand take his so suddenly. But what really surprised him was strange feeling that came from the contact of her hand on his, it felt different but not in the bad way.

"_Maybe this feeling came because our hands never touched like this before. Come to think of it, we hugged but hand holding never seemed to come into play with us that much. Well expect for that one time when she taught me how to dance, but I don't think that counts. Besides I don't remember feeling this way when that happened…but maybe it felt that way and I didn't pay attention to it back then. Or maybe……I don't know! This is all so confusing!"_ Ben thought frustrated.

When Gwen noticed the aggravated expression on Ben's face, she was about to ask him what was bothering him but then she realized that her hand was still holding onto his. A part of her wanted to never let go of him and enjoy the feeling that his hand in hers had caused, but the other part knew that she had to eventually release him. So to try and please both sides she gave his hand a gentle squeeze before she quickly removed her hand from his. The sudden departure of Gwen's hand had snapped Ben out of his thoughts, making him give his cousin a curious look. Gwen seeing the look he was giving her, made her remember the reason for grabbing his hand in the first place.

"I know I should've said this earlier but…...I want to take a shower," Gwen replied quietly, evading any eye contact.

"What?! Are you serious?!" asked Ben in a very shocked voice.

"Well, a shower is much more effective in getting you clean than a bath. If you take a bath you technically get yourself dirty again because you are still sitting in your own filth even after you've washed yourself off. However if you take a shower you avoid sitting in dirt water and you stay clean after your done washing," explained Gwen in an informative tone.

"_Why did that have to make sense? Then again this is Gwen after all,"_ Ben thought dejectedly as he let out a sigh as he stepped into the tub.

He did his best to keep his eyes from gazing down below her face as he helped Gwen stand up in the tub. Gwen's back was now pressed against Ben's chest since he had to hold her securely around her waist to keep her from falling. Once he was sure Gwen was situated, he was about to turn on the water until Gwen's hand stopped him again.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked in a strict tone as she turned her face to Ben.

"About to help you take a shower," he stated slowly wondering where she was going with this.

"And get you cloths wet," stated Gwen giving him a firm look, making Ben roll his eyes.

"Wet pajamas never hurt anybody Gwen."

"Say that to the people who get pneumonia from having on wet cloths for too long."

"I can handle it Gwen."

"No way Ben! I'm not going to let you get sick because you're being stubborn! Now take off your cloths this instant or I'll do it for you!"

"I'm not taking off anything Gwen!"

"Then you leave me no choice," said Gwen before she immediately turned herself around in his arm and began rapidly unbuttoning his pajama top.

This had taken Ben completely by surprise, making his hold on Gwen start to loosen. By the time Ben got over his shock, Gwen had already finished unbuttoning his top and was now trying to pull it off. He immediately used his free hand to grab one of her hands in an attempt to stop her from going further. However she used her free hand to continue on with what she was doing.

"Gwen, stop it!" Ben replied frantically as he took his arm from her waist to grab hold of her other hand.

Gwen gave him a defiant look as she started pulling away from him, trying to get her hands out of his grip.

"No, you need to stop acting like a little child. Now stop being stubborn and let me…" was all she had said before she slipped and was now falling.

Ben thinking quickly used one hand to grab one of her hands and the other he put around her waist, while Gwen in response wrapped her free arm around his neck. Doing this managed to stop her fall, preventing her from hitting the floor of the tub.

"Are you ok?" Ben asked Gwen once he pulled her back up on her feet.

"Yeah…I guess I'm weaker than I thought," Gwen answered in a small and dejected voice, with her head lowered.

By the way Gwen had answered him; he realized that she wasn't just referring to her current physical state but herself in general. This of course worried him because Gwen had never thought of herself being weak before. His concern grew more as Gwen suddenly gripped his shirt and her body grew tense as she buried herself firmly against his chest.

"Gwen, what's wrong?" asked Ben in a worried but soothing voice as he gently caressed her back, hoping it would ease her.

This seemed to work as Gwen started to relax. She then looked up to see the worried and confused stare Ben was giving her. Gwen couldn't help staring longingly back at Ben as memories of him began coming to her mind, making a few faint tears come from her eyes.

"_I missed him so much. I never thought I'd have a chance to be this close to him again,"_ thought Gwen before she slowly leaned towards his face.

Ben seeing the dazed faraway look in Gwen's eyes; realized she was now acting subconsciously nevertheless it didn't stop the alarm that went off in his head. Yet before he could think to do anything her lips came in contact with his.

**A/N: Ok, this is my first Ben 10 fic and I'm a little unsure of how this first chapter turned out so I would appreciate some feedback on how I did this so far. **


	2. Untapped Feelings and an Explanation

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews! I enjoy receiving them!**

**Bengwen014: Actually I'm glad you noticed that because there is a reason for it and it will be explained in this chapter.**

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Untapped Feelings and an Explanation**

Ben's eyes widened when he felt her lips connect to his. Even though it was a soft and gentle kiss, Ben could feel a strong sense of desperation, loneliness, and need that Gwen was exhibiting through the kiss. So maybe it was those feelings from Gwen that did it. Maybe it was his constant need to help people when they're in trouble. Maybe it was because he cared strongly for his cousin. Or maybe it was just pure teenaged hormones. Whatever the reason was, he had closed his eyes and allowed his lips to press more firmly against Gwen's.

Gwen also closed her eyes in response to the kiss and pulled herself closer to Ben, making their bare chests squish tightly together as she deepened the kiss even more. A surprised gasp came from Ben when he had felt Gwen's breasts make contact with his chest. However since Gwen was still running on instinct she used the gasp he made to her advantage and snuck her tongue into his slightly opened mouth. Once inside, her tongue immediately searched for his and when she found it, she started playing with it. Ben couldn't stop the moan that escaped from him as Gwen's hands had grabbed the back of his head to press him deeper into the kiss. All traces of coherent thought had left Ben, and now his tongue was being very active with Gwen's as his arms encircled her waist to pull her even closer to him. The kiss was getting more intense by the second and Ben could now feel his legs getting weak on him. In fact they were becoming so weak that he was about to lose his balance and fall into the tub, but a load knock on the bathroom door had snapped both teenagers out of their frenzy in time.

"Ben, are you still in there? Your mother said you went to the bathroom an hour ago," commented Carl in a concerned voice.

Ben, knowing his father was waiting for an answer, quickly came up with a valid excuse.

"Uh…I'm fine dad. I just couldn't get back to sleep so I'm hoping a hot shower would help."

"Ok then, just don't take too long in there, it's three in the morning and you have to go to school in another five hours," Carol reminded him.

"Got it dad," replied Ben, before he heard his father walking away from the door.

"That was close," he sighed in relief.

Now that his father was taken care of, the incident that had occurred before his father interrupted came back to Ben.

"_Ok Ben this isn't as bad as it seems, you just made out with your cousin… while she was naked…… and about to help her take a shower………when you already have a girlfriend!! Oh my gosh!!!"_ frantically thought Ben as the full impact of what just happened hit him.

Yet Ben wasn't the only one who was freaking out about it.

"_What have I done?! I can't believe I…I didn't mean to…to. Oh my gosh!!!"_ was Gwen's concerned thoughts.

"I'm so sorry Ben. I…I…got carried away," apologized Gwen with a distraught look on her face.

"Yah think!" Ben yelled sarcastically while glowering at Gwen, causing her to recoil herself in shame from her livid cousin.

However guilt instantly washed over Ben when he saw the hurt and remorseful expression displayed on Gwen's face.

"Gwen…I…"

"No, you have every right to be angry at me. It's my fault for forcing you into this situation," Gwen told him softly but firmly.

Ben knew that was her way of saying that it was all her fault and that he shouldn't be apologizing to her. But he didn't want her to think that because he knew that wasn't true.

"Gwen, what happened was both our faults ok? You may have initiated it, but I didn't try to stop it," assumingly explained Ben as he grabbed her hands together to give them a gentle squeeze.

Unfortunately Gwen didn't agree with this and actually became angry that Ben was trying to share the blame. She forcefully took her hands from Ben's and glared at him.

"You're wrong, it is my entire fault! I made up excesses that I knew would get you that close to me! I wanted….no. needed you so much that I went too far and too fast with it! I wouldn't blame you if you're disgusted by me!"

Ben was completely stunned and troubled from what he heard Gwen say. It certainly didn't help that she had turned the other way to avoid looking at him and was hugging herself tightly with her head lowered. Seeing her like this was heart wrenching for Ben, especially since he didn't know what had caused her to be this way.

"What happened to you Gwen?" he asked her gently as he carefully placed his hand on her shoulder.

"We should take that shower now," simply stated Gwen, still not looking at her cousin.

"Gwen, please tell me…"

"Ben, you heard your dad. We can't stay in here all day and this is the only way we're getting anywhere. Besides this way you'll already be cleaned up for school."

"Gwen…"

"Do you want me to attempt to undress you again?" she said in a warning tone, this time deciding to face him with a strict look on her face.

Ben sighed in defeat, knowing Gwen was not going to talk about it. So waiting was the only thing he could do until she was ready to tell him.

"I'll do it myself," he answered before he started taking off his top.

Gwen quickly turned around when she saw Ben begin taking off his clothes and waited for him until he was finished undressing.

"Gwen, you ready?" asked Ben as soon as he was fully unclothed.

"Yeah," she replied softly before she moved to the side to allow him to turn the water on.

Ben set the temperature of the water to medium heat before switching it over to the shower. Gwen wasted no time in grabbing the shampoo and squirting it in her hair. Once she was done washing her hair, she took the liquid soap and applied it to the washcloth that Ben had just given her. She started thoroughly scrubbing off all of the grime that was on her, making sure not to miss a single spec of dirt. After she was sure she was clean, she took a quick glance in Ben's direction to see if he was done yet. However he wasn't and Gwen had caught him washing a certain area that made her rapidly tear her eyes away from him and her cheeks turn a scarlet red color.

"Ok I'm done. What about you Gwen?" Ben asked causally

"Ye…yes I'm finished," she replied in a stutter still trying to get over what she just saw.

"You ok there Gwen?" confusingly questioned Ben, not knowing about the little peek Gwen had took of him.

"Yep, come on let's get dressed," hastily answered Gwen, trying to avoid looking at him while getting out of the tub at the same time.

Ben blinked at her in confusion, but decided to just drop it before he turned off the water and attempted to get out of the tub as well. Unfortunately Ben's legs hadn't gained back their full strength from that kiss so when he lifted his leg up to step out of the tub he started to wobble and lost his footing.

"Ben!" cried Gwen, grabbing onto his arms to try and stop his fall.

But her grip wasn't strong enough to pull him up so instead she ended up falling down with him and had landed right on top of him. They both froze from shock at the realization of how intimate their position was. Both started blushing furiously and quickly removed themselves from the other. There soon became an awkward silence after that and both weren't sure how to handle everything that had happened with them so far.

"So…when did I become the weak one?" Ben joked, trying to break the awkwardness with a little humor.

However the reaction he got from her was not one he excepted. Gwen's expression turned into one of realization and dread when he said that.

"Gwen, what's wrong?" frantically asked Ben as he put his hand on her shoulder, making Gwen turn to face him with apologetic eyes.

"I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to…" Gwen stammered out.

"Gwen, please stop. That kiss was…an accident," replied Ben, hoping to get that sorrowful look from her eyes.

"It's not just the kiss," she told him while avoiding eye contact with him.

"What do you mean?" he asked her in a confused way.

"I was also referring to you becoming weak."

"Oh…well that was some kind of a kiss," joked Ben as he rubbed the back of his head in anxiety.

"It's more than what you think," answered Gwen with a serious look on her face.

"What?" nervously stated Ben, thinking about where this conversation was about to go.

Gwen sighed before locking her eyes with Ben.

"During the kiss, I was subconsciously…absorbing your manna," she solemnly confessed to him.

"_Whew, for a minute I thought she meant…wait, what did she say?!"_ thought Ben before his eyes widened in shock.

"You were doing what now?" Ben asked since he wasn't completely sure he heard her right.

"Absorbing you manna. You know the thing Grandma Verdona did to make herself stronger when we all fought her that one time," calmly explained Gwen.

Ben soon gained a look of understanding on his face and when he took a brief scan of Gwen, he saw that all of her wounds and injures where no longer there. Even her hair had returned to its usual length. She looked perfectly fine now, as though she had never been hurt at all. Suddenly the expression on Ben's face turned into realization when he remembered something that happened earlier that night.

"Wait a minute, were you doing that when I was carrying you to my room?"

"Yes, but I only took a little bit from you then."

"So that's why you were recovering so quickly after I had picked you up!" Ben announced triumphantly, glad that he at least was able to figure that out.

"Yeah…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you," apologized Gwen with her head lowered.

Nevertheless, Ben just smiled as he lifted her head back up to face him.

"Hey it's ok Gwen. I don't mind, besides you were pretty banged up anyway so I understand why you do it," he told her with consideration in his voice.

"Are you sure you're not upset with me for doing that to you?" asked Gwen with hope coming onto her features.

"If that was the best way for me to help you than no I'm not. So if you need to do that again that's fine with me, just warn me first before you did it," answered Ben with that famous goofy smile of his.

Gwen couldn't help but feel happiness at the fact that she had such a thoughtful and caring cousin. She suddenly hugged him while wearing a smile on her own face.

"I will and thanks Ben," Gwen said with so much emotion that Ben had felt it as though it was his own.

"No problem. By the way when did you learn to do that?" wondered Ben with full interest growing on his face.

Unfortunately that question brought a frown to Gwen's lips as she slowly pulled away from him. Seeing that he must of asked the wrong thing, he tried to apologize but Gwen stopped him and reminded him that they should get out of the tub and get dressed. Even though Ben didn't want to leave the conversation hanging like that, he knew Gwen wasn't ready to continue it so he decided to let it go for now. They both finally got dressed and carefully snuck out from the bathroom back to Ben's room. Once they were in the room, Gwen opened up her mouth to speak.

"Imprisonment."

"What?"Ben asked as he turned to face Gwen.

"That's the answer to all your questions," she declared dejectedly before she sat down on the side of the bed.

"I'm listening," he told her coaxingly as he sat down on the bed beside her.

Gwen looked at him with a slight smile on her face, but it soon left and she took a deep breath as she was preparing to tell him what happened.

"When I was by myself the DNAliens took me by surprise…I tried to fight back as hard as I could but there were just too many of them……Once they had me they took me as a prisoner back to their planet. Then they…they…"

"What did they do to you Gwen?!" Ben asked her with anger growing inside him from what she just told him.

"They…started experimenting on me," answered Gwen in such a low voice that Ben had barely heard what she said.

However he did hear her and all he wanted to do right now was find those DNAliens who hurt his cousin and beat them up until there was nothing left of them. Yet he knew that before he could do anything he had to know more so he tried calming down and resumed the conversation.

"Do you know why?" inquired Ben in a firm tone, though some anger had managed to slip into his voice.

"I'm pretty sure they were trying to do to me what they did to Ken, but I guess with me being "more alien" it was harder for them to do it…Almost every day they would…do a different experiment on me……When they were done with me they locked me back in a cell that would drain most of my energy so that I wouldn't be able to use my powers. Luckily, being used to digesting grandpa's cooking made what they gave me to eat easier to swallow, " Gwen said trying to bring a little humor in hopes of lightening up the situation some.

Ben let a smile appear on his lips at that until something that she said clicked in his mind.

"Wait, what do you mean every day? I just saw you yesterday," he seriously told her.

"What?! Are you sure?!" asked Gwen with clear shock in her voice.

"I'm sure," answered Ben, which brought a solemn look to Gwen's face.

"I guess time passes faster there then," Gwen stated quietly, more to herself than Ben even though he had heard it.

"How long?" Ben questioned with severity growing in his tone.

"It's not important," she assured him, knowing how he would react if she told him.

But Ben wasn't going to take that for an answer. He gripped her shoulders with his hands and pulled her a little bit closer to him, while giving her a stern look.

"Don't give me that Gwen! How long did they have you?!"

When Gwen saw the seriousness in his eyes, she knew he wasn't going to let that one go. So with some hesitance she managed to stammer the answer out.

"At least……five months"

Just as she feared, that bit of information had done it for Ben. He had immediately started pacing around the room trying to walk out the frustration that was ready to come out. Gwen seeing this went towards him and this time she put her hand on his shoulder to try to cool him down.

"Ben please calm down," pleaded Gwen, not liking how this had affected her cousin.

"How can you expect me to calm down?! I just found out my cousin had been taken and experimented on for five months! I should've done something, anything! I should've saved you!" Ben proclaimed.

"It's alright; you didn't know I was in trouble. And before you say it, it's not your fault that I got captured either."

"Yes it is! I should've been there for you; I should've made sure you were safe, I should of…OW!"

Ben's check had a huge red mark from where Gwen had slapped him. She gave him a firm look of her own and made sure her voice would project the same.

"I don't want to hear any more of that nonsense from you! You understand?!"

"But…"

"No buts! I repeat it's not your fault! You couldn't have known I was going to get taken. You couldn't have known I was in danger because you only saw me a day ago. And I know if you knew what really happened to me you would do everything you could to save me because that's the kind of person you are. It was just one of those things that happened where neither of us expected it or could control. So don't you dare put yourself down or blame yourself for this, ok?"

What Gwen had said had managed to get through to Ben and after thinking about it, he realized she was right like always.

"I won't…and thanks Gwen. I needed to hear that," he replied with a warm smile on his lips.

"Hey, giving my cousin good advice when he's acting like a total dweb is the kind of person I am," she stated as a teasingly grin appeared on her face.

This caused Ben's smile to grow at the use of the old name him and Gwen had given each other.

"We should try to get some sleep now," recommended Gwen.

"Yeah, a whole three hours worth," Ben responded with mock enthusiasm in his voice.

"Technically, two and a half since we actually have to be in school by eight and it takes almost thirty minutes to get there," Gwen corrected with a light grin formed on her lips.

"Well that's reassuring," said Ben.

"At least we're already washed up," commented Gwen, though as soon as she said that she'd wished she hadn't.

"_Way to Gwen, you just had to bring that back up,"_ mentally scolding herself.

"Right…well you can take the bed. I'll sleep on the couch," he stated in an attempt to quickly change the subject.

"You shouldn't do that," Gwen declared with a worried expression on her face.

"Don't worry the couch isn't as uncomfortable as it looks," he told her with reassurance in his words.

"Actually, I was talking about the chance that one of your parents will see you sleeping on the couch and wonder why," causally explained Gwen to which Ben let out a sigh.

"_I can already see where this is going. I might as well just do it, knowing Gwen she's going to convince me anyway. Beside I can tell she really needs this and we're at least wearing cloths this time,"_ contemplated Ben before he grabbed Gwen's hand and started pulling her with him towards the bed.

"Ben, what are you doing?" asked a very confused Gwen.

"Saving time from being wasted with you giving me a very reasonable and legitimate excuse to sleep in the bed with you," he elaborated to her, bringing her to look at him in astonishment.

"That's not…"

But Ben immediately interrupted her before she could get another words out.

"Yes it is necessary and no I don't mind. After what you've been through I think I understand why you want to do this, and if me being close to you makes you feel more secure than it's fine with me," he proclaimed with such sincerity and certainty that Gwen couldn't help feel the happiness that entered inside of her.

"You really mean that?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes I do," he positively answered.

Hearing this, Gwen had hugged Ben as she whispered a soft thank you to him in his ear.

"No problem, now come on, we already wasted ten minutes of our two and a half hours of sleep," announced Ben.

"Okay," she agreed after she released him from the hug.

They both climbed into the bed before Ben turned off the light. Since it was a single bed, they were both pretty scrunched up together and had to adjust their positions some before it felt right. So now both were laying on their sides facing each other with their arms over the other.

"Good ni…morning," yawed out Ben as he closed his eyes to go to sleep.

"Good morning Ben," Gwen tenderly replied back before a smile suddenly grazed her lips.

"_I wonder if I should tell him that I meant for him to use a sleeping bag so he could sleep on the floor in the room,"_ she thought to herself as she watched Ben who was already making snores come out his mouth.

"_On second thought, I'll keep that little secret to myself,"_ was the last thought she had before she too drifted off into a comfortable sleep.

Hearing a loud beeping noise had made Ben's eyes slowly start to open. Ben was still drowsily after he opened his eyes from his short slumber. However after turning off the alarm and taking a brief glance at the clock that read 7:53 a.m., it had fully woke him up instantly.

"Oh man! Gwen, we need to…Gwen?" asked Ben, noticing the empty space on the bed beside him.

Seeing that Gwen wasn't there, he quickly got out of bed and began looking around the room for his now missing cousin. When he couldn't find her anywhere, he got worried and started to panic.

"_Where could she be?! What if the DNAliens took her again while we were asleep! No don't think like that! She probably woke up earlier so she could leave before my parents could come in and she just didn't want to wake me. Yeah that must be it. But what if she didn't make it all the way back home and got taken again while she was alone trying to get back home! That's it! I'm going over to her house right now…as soon as I get dressed,"_ thought Ben as he noticed he was still in his pajamas.

With that in mind, he swiftly changed out of his pajamas into his regular attire and immediately left his room. He said a quick goodbye to his parents and before they could even say a word he was out of the house. He ran all the way to Gwen's house and only stopped to take a breather when he reached Gwen's doorstep. Once he caught his breath he rang the door bell and waited for an answer. When the door opened, Ben was surprised by who opened it.

"Tennyson, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing…Kevin."

**A/N: Sorry this took awhile, but I think the wait was worth it. Until next time!**

**P.S. Do you think I need to make the rating M or did I manage to stay in the T rating?**


	3. Strange Behavior

**A/N: So sorry for not updating this in awhile. Here's the next chapter for you guys!**

**"Radio Communication/Transmissions"**

**Strange Behavior**

Right now Ben and Kevin were sitting on the couch in Gwen's living room in a heated silence waiting for Gwen to come downstairs. When Kevin had first opened the door, he had tried to convince Ben to leave since he had planned to have a little alone time with Gwen. Yet Ben had shocked him by giving him a hard glare and told him that he was staying and that was final. After that the two refused to acknowledge each other until Kevin decided he needed some answers.

"You know you still haven't told me what you are doing here Tennyson," commented Kevin with his arms folded in irritation, which made Ben take a side glance at Kevin before he responded.

"Is it a crime for me to see my cousin?" he retorted, giving Kevin a cross look.

"Ok, what's with the attitude?" Kevin questioned, wondering what Ben's problem was.

Ben opened his mouth about to reply curtly to Kevin's question, yet Gwen coming down the stairs gained his instant attention.

"Ok I'm ready to…Ben?" remarked Gwen in surprise as she noticed her cousin's presence once she reached the bottom of the steps.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with curiosity, walking over to the two boys.

"That's what I would like to know," muttered Kevin with aggravation hinted in his tone.

However Ben simply ignored Kevin and stood up from the couch to walk closer toward Gwen. A serious look was on his face as he briefly scanned over Gwen for anything wrong. When he saw that she appeared to be alright, he looked his cousin right in the eye.

"Are you ok Gwen?" Ben asked, wanting to be absolutely sure that she was fine, especially after what happened between them earlier that morning.

Gwen had noticed Ben's quick inspection of her and how serious yet concerned his voice was when he asked her if she was ok. She was a little thrown off from her cousin's behavior and wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Um…yeah, I'm fine," she finally answered after a few moments of contemplation while still feeling a bit puzzled at Ben's actions.

Gwen started feeling uncomfortable when Ben continued to stare into her eyes as though trying to find something, fortunately for her he apparently found whatever it was he was looking for and let a smile come to his lips.

"Good," he stated, while relaxing into a more normal composure as the smile on his face became friendlier.

"Am I still driving you to school or what?" interrupted Kevin, who was starting to become uncomfortable watching the strange interaction between the two cousins.

Luckily for him, the question immediately returned Gwen's mind to the present, reminding her that she indeed was still planning on going to school today.

"Oh no, I'm going to be late! We need to go now!" she announced urgently to Kevin before grabbing his hand and literally pulling him toward the front door.

Once there she quickly opened the door and spared a quick look at Ben who was still standing in the living room.

"Ben, please lock the door on your way out for me ok. Come on Kevin," she said in a rush before pushing Kevin out of the door and closing it behind her.

Knowing how Gwen was when it came to being on time for school, Kevin as fast as he could went to his car and hastily got in the driver's seat before starting up the vehicle. Gwen was only a second behind him as she swiftly got in the passenger's side and shut the car door. However to their surprise the sound of another car door being closed brought their attention to the back seat which Ben was now sitting in.

"Ben, what do you think you're doing?" Gwen asked her cousin, giving him a suspicious look

"What? I locked the door behind me," innocently stated Ben causing Gwen to roll her eyes from Ben's response.

"She means; what are you doing in the back seat of my car Tennyson," clarified Kevin as irritation was becoming present on his features while turning to face Ben.

The intense stares Ben was receiving from Gwen and Kevin didn't faze him at all, in fact a light grin came to his lips as he lazily lay comfortably against the back seat with his hands behind his head with his eyes closed.

"I just thought that I could hitch a ride with you guys. You won't mind taking me to school too right Kevin?" Ben asked nonchalantly while opening one eye to glance at Kevin.

Kevin could already tell that Ben had no plans of getting out of the car and even if he did kick him out, he had a feeling that Ben would just follow them anyway.

"Sure, no problem," Kevin replied firmly trying to hold back his annoyance.

Gwen could also see that Ben was not going to leave them alone making her let out a sigh.

"Let's just go," she said in defeat, turning her head back to the front.

With that Kevin took off and was now driving towards Gwen's school with an extra unwanted passenger for the ride. Despite the rough start between them, the ride for the most part was surprisingly causal as the three had fell into their usual chatter which seemed to happen every time the three were riding in Kevin's car. By the time they arrived at Gwen's school the familiar friendly atmosphere between them had been restored and the morning's events forgotten. That was until Gwen was beginning to get out of the car and Ben's hand had suddenly grabbed a hold of her before she could to anything further. When Ben did this a confused yet slightly annoyed expression crossed Gwen's face as she turned to face Ben.

"Uh, Ben I'm kind of in a hurry here," reminded Gwen in an impatient tone, afraid of being late for school when she was only a few feet away from the building.

Nevertheless a firm expression came on Ben's features as his eyes meant with Gwen's with an intense stare. His hold on her had tightened slightly before he opened his mouth to speak.

"You have your plumber's badge with you right?" he questions with a dead serious tone in his voice as he continued to stare intensively right at Gwen.

Gwen was once again lost by the shift in Ben and figured the best way to get out of this was to just answer and leave as quickly as possible.

"Yes, I've got it. Can you let go of me now?" Gwen answered using irritation to cover up her confusion at the situation.

"If anything happens call me right away," seriously proclaimed Ben as his eyes continued to bore into Gwen's making her feel even more puzzled.

"Fine, now can I go?" she said quickly wanting to get out of the car more than ever.

Ben finally noticing how uncomfortable Gwen was feeling immediately let go of her and decided to relieve the tension he had caused in hopes of making her feel at ease again.

"Hey, now you know how I feel when you're constantly nagging me to be more careful," Ben teased with a grin, which succeeded in relaxing Gwen as an amused smile came to her lips.

"Ha, ha, very funny Ben," remarked Gwen before she was finally able to get out of the car.

Once out she closed the car door and looked back through the open side widow.

"Thanks for the ride Kevin, and Ben try to stay out of trouble for once," she said as her goodbye to which Ben was swift to respond to.

"And next you'll be telling a fish to try not to swim," retorted Ben with humor clear on his face.

Gwen shook her head in amusement before she turned away from them to start walking to the school's entrance. The moment Gwen was out of sight Kevin, who had watched the whole exchange in silence, had enough and wanted some answers now. He turned back to face Ben with a glare and Ben instantly meant it with his own.

"Alright Tennyson, you and I both know you weren't joking just now so what's up with the overprotectiveness?" Kevin demanded to know.

A strict look formed on Ben's face as his lips tightened into a thin line completely erasing the grin that had been on his lips only seconds ago.

"We need to talk, now," was all he said making the message very clear to Kevin that this would be a very serious conversation.

There were no more words that needed to be said as Kevin turned back around to face the wheel and started up the car and took off. As the car drove further away from the school, a pair of eyes that had been watching them since they left Gwen's house was now shifting their focus from the car to Gwen. The eyes continued shifting back and forth between the two as though not sure which one to choose. After a few seconds, the pair of eyes had permanently landed on Gwen.

* * *

The air was filled with intensity inside Kevin's garage as Ben and Kevin were now outside of the car facing each other in a standoff fashion. They both stared at each in silence before Ben decided to speak first.

"Something happened to Gwen," Ben stated calmly though by the sound of his voice Kevin knew that that something was very bad.

"She didn't say anything to me about it," challenged Kevin while crossing his arms in front of his chest.

This caused Ben to narrow his eyes while trying his best to remain in control so he wouldn't do something that he would regret later.

"It happened late last night most likely after your date. She came to my house early in the morning for help," clarified Ben causing an urgent expression on Kevin's face.

Kevin then hastily grabbed the front of Ben's jacket bringing his face closer to Ben's with a determined look in his eyes.

"What happened to Gwen?" exclaimed Kevin to which Ben remained impassive to.

"It's not for me to tell. If Gwen wants you to know she'll let you know," Ben answered as he removed Kevin's hands from his jacket.

"It took her some time before she could even tell me what happened and I could tell it was really hard for her to do. So don't you dare try to force it out of her Kevin," he warned him making sure he wouldn't pressure Gwen for answers.

Kevin suddenly laid back against his car in a loss for how to handle what he just learned. However Ben wasn't finished yet.

"You could tell by the way she was acting this morning that she's pretending like nothing happened and I honestly believe she needs to do that right now. The problem is that I can't do that. The point is I don't care what it takes I want to make sure nothing like that happens to her again," proclaimed Ben before he was the one this time who invaded Kevin's personal space.

"If I'm not around I need to make sure that she will be protected at all cost. Understand Kevin?" Ben asked with a strict tone in his voice not taking his eyes off the other male.

"Got it," answered Kevin with a serious voice of his own.

Seeing that they both had come to an agreement; Ben stated to relax a bit before a grin came to his lips.

"So about that ride to school…"

* * *

The school day so far for Gwen was about the same as all the others. Except that she kept getting the feeling that she was being watched. Every time she would feel someone's eyes on her she would turn around to see no one besides the occasional students nearby. By the third time this happened her guard had been on high alert and this time when she looked she managed to catch a glimpse of someone from the classroom window before they moved out of her sight. Interesting enough after that time Gwen's apparent stalker did not try to risk being seen again so all Gwen could do now was carry on like normal until whoever it was showed up again.

The school bell rang signally the end of class and the school day. Even though Gwen enjoyed school, she had to admit that like other students she was relieved when that bell would ring. She quickly packed up her things and headed out of the classroom to her locker. After exchanging books that she needed and didn't need she closed her locker and was ready to go home for the day. Unfortunately the moment she exited the school the sense that she was being watched came back again only it was much stronger than before. Gwen back on high alert let her eyes immediately search around the school grounds to try and find the culprit. It wasn't until she looked at a tree that was several feet away from the school did she notice the figure who had just tried to hide behind the tree from her.

Deciding enough was enough, Gwen began rushing over to where the tree was. The person must have realized she was heading toward them and so they quickly sprinted from the tree and ran. Seeing the retreating form trying to get away only made Gwen run faster to try and catch them. As the chase continued, Gwen was tempted to use her powers and end it quickly but because she wasn't sure who the person was she couldn't risk exposing herself if it just happened to be some normal but crazy admirer or something like that. Thus Gwen had no choice but to do her best to keep in pursuit of the person as best as she could. It wasn't until a few minutes passed that Gwen had noticed that the person wasn't just running randomly but seemed to be heading towards a specific destination. This made Gwen briefly wonder if she was perhaps being lead into a trap.

"_Maybe I better call for backup just in case,"_ Gwen thought before quickly taking out her plumber's badge while she continued running.

"_Looks like Ben had been right to make sure that I had it on me. I better not tell him that or I'll never hear the end of it," _Gwen mused with a small smile coming to her lips before her face became serous again as she activated the communication feature on the badge.

"Kevin, are you there?" asked Gwen bringing the badge closer to her mouth.

To her relief and slight surprise it didn't take even two seconds before she received a response.

**"I'm here. What's wrong?"** Kevin replied anxiously making Gwen wonder why he sounded so worried all of a sudden.

Despite that she just shook it off for now knowing that she had to stay focused if she didn't want to lose her quarry. But just when she was about to answer Kevin a sudden realization of exactly where she was and where the person was headed hit her like a ton of bricks. This caused worry to instantly show on Gwen's face as her grip tightened on her Plumber's badge.

"Kevin, get to my location as fast as you can! I think Ben is in danger!" Gwen exclaimed with heavy amounts of alarm in her voice as she continued her chase now with more resolve in her than before.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I've decided to try and work on the next one for this story so hopefully it won't be long before you guys receive another update. Also if anyone is interested I have two story ideas for Bwen. Since I have other stories to work on I wouldn't mind having a co-author to help me with them. Let me know if any of you want to work on these stories with me. **

**Story Idea #1: Multi-chapter story at least seven chapters**

**Title: **Time Heals Old Wounds (title may change)

**Genre: **Romance/Angst

**Rate: **T or M (not sure yet)

**Characters: **Ben T. /Gwen T.

**Summary: **Alien Force. Based on the episode "Time Heals". What if Gwen was never able to fix her mistake and was stuck in an apocalyptic world ruled by Hex and Charmcaster. Now trapped in this world the only one she has left is Ben. But Gwen soon discovers how much Ben has truly changed because of her death and now only wishes to have the old Ben back. But is that even possible anymore?

**Story Idea#2: Multi-arc story (at least two to three arcs) **

**Title: **Mind Alteration (title may change)

**Genre: **Romance/General

**Rate: **T or M (not sure yet)

**Characters: **Ben T. /Gwen T.

**Summary: **Ultimate Alien. After a fierce battle Ben and Gwen are stranded in another dimension with no memories. As the two try to discover who they are new feelings begin to emerge. However they are unaware that this had all been planned. When the enemy finally makes his move the results are a brainwashed Ben and Gwen working for the ultimate enemy. Will the two ever be saved and if they are what repercussion will take place because of it?

**Review or PM me if you like these ideas and want to co-write, though I'm not sure exactly when these stories will be started. **


	4. The Interesting Twist

**A/N: Here's chapter four! **

**"Radio Communication/Transmissions"**

**The Interesting Twist**

Another school day had just ended for the only other high school in Bellwood; particularly the one Ben Tennyson attended. Ben himself, other than the rough morning he had with Gwen and then Kevin, had a regular and surprisingly normal day. In fact he was wearing a warm smile on his face as he walked out of the school building and was now heading home.

"Ben, wait up!" called Julie as she suddenly came out of the school herself.

Hearing Julie call him, Ben stopped to turn back to face her before she caught up to him.

"Hey Julie, what's up?" Ben greeted Julie, who was now standing right beside him.

'Nothing much, I just thought it would be nice to walk home together that's all," answered Julie with a warm smile on her lips.

"Sounds good to me," he agreed and the two began walking together in a peaceful stride.

They had only walked a few feet from the school before Ben began to get a strange feeling that was making him become more alert. He immediately halted in his tracks as he examined his surroundings with a careful eye. After some searching he had caught sight of someone fleeting from behind one of the nearby bushes and heading towards his school.

"Ben, what's wrong?" wondered Julie as she placed her hand on Ben's shoulder in concern.

"There's something I've got to check out. I'm afraid we're going to have to reschedule that walk," Ben told Julie with a serious expression on his face.

"Ok, just be careful," she told him while giving Ben a comforting hug.

"I will, I promise," Ben said as he gladly hugged Julie back.

Ben and Julie then separated from each other and Ben headed off back to the school after they said they're farewells.

* * *

"I can't believe I lost them!" Gwen said in frustration at herself for losing sight of her culprit as she tried frantically looking around for the said person.

"Gwen!" she heard from a very familiar masculine voice bringing a relieved look on Gwen's face.

Gwen immediately turned to where the voice was coming from to see Kevin in his car coming towards her. He quickly pulled up in front of her and Gwen wasted no time in getting into the vehicle before Kevin took off.

"So what's the problem?" asked Kevin as he shifted his gaze slightly toward Gwen.

"I'm not exactly sure. All I know was that someone or something was spying on me all day and I've been chasing them for the last ten minutes until they managed to give me the slip," answered Gwen with a firm look in her eyes.

Kevin's grip tightened on the steering wheel at the knowledge that Gwen had been stalked by a possible dangerous threat. He remembered the little conversation he had with Ben earlier which made him grow more worried about Gwen's safety. At that moment he wanted to just stop the car and demand that Gwen tell him what had happened to her, but Ben's warning about pushing her made him toss that idea to the side. Of course that didn't mean that he wasn't going to try a more subtle approach to get some answers from Gwen.

"So do you have any idea why someone would be watching you?" Kevin questioned in hopes to get some kind of information out of her, however he was disappointed.

"I have no idea, but now it looks like whoever it was is going after Ben. When I was chasing them, they were heading in the direction of Ben's school," Gwen replied with slight worry in her voice causing a small frown on Kevin's face.

"You shouldn't worry so much, Ben can take care of himself after all," he reminded her, hoping to put Gwen at ease.

"I know, but it doesn't stop me from worrying about him especially when he's alone and unaware of the possible danger," she told him seriously making Kevin wonder if what she just said had anything to do with what happened to her last night.

Now Kevin was even more motivated to get some answers.

"Gwen, if anything happened to you, you'd tell me right?" he asked making Gwen look at him in confusion.

"Um Kevin I don't think this is the time for this. We have to kind of get to Ben right now," Gwen responded with puzzlement clearly on her face at not understanding why Kevin would even bring up the question at all.

However Kevin didn't take the fact that Gwen was avoiding the question too well even though a part of him knew that she was right.

"Humor me," Kevin curtly muttered out loud causing an annoyed expression to cross Gwen's features.

"Ok, first Ben's acting weird now you. Is there something going on that I don't know about?" Gwen questioned, staring at him with her arms crossed irritably over her chest.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Kevin quickly retorted which only made Gwen more frustrated.

"What are you talking about Kevin? You're making no sense!" she told him in exasperation at the fact that Kevin was also acting weird towards her now.

Kevin's frown deepened at the realization that Gwen really wasn't planning on telling him anything about last night. A part of him was hurt and angry that she obviously didn't trust him enough to share something that was clearly important. But at the same time he knew that Ben had been right not to push her into something she wasn't ready to tell and so all he could do was hope that Gwen would tell him soon.

"Just forget it," he said, cutting the conversation off and leaving Gwen even more irritated and bewildered than before.

* * *

Ben had been searching the school for the past fifteen minutes looking for the unknown person that he had spotted earlier. He had already looked all around the outside of the school and when he saw no signs of anyone suspicious he tried searching inside the building. However he had no better luck inside either as he could not find a single trace of anything out of the ordinary. After a while Ben was beginning to think that the person was either a really good hider, or had just simply left the school all together by now.

"_Who knows, maybe I'm overreacting and it was just some random weird student,"_ Ben thought to himself as he was ready to call it quits.

Yet the moment he was ready to head back to the main doors of the school, a hand had covered his mouth from behind while the person's other hand wrapped around his middle and quickly pulled him into a nearby vacant classroom. The moment they were completely inside the room the person took their hands away from Ben to which he quickly responded by turning around to face the culprit. Though just when he was getting ready to go hero, his eyes widened when he saw who the person that had dragged him in the classroom was. Now knowing who the person was, Ben was certainly surprised and a bit confused and was opening his mouth getting ready to ask some questions before the person's hand once again prevented anything from coming out of his mouth.

"Shush, we have to be quiet Ben, they're looking for me," the person told Ben is an audible whisper bringing an immediate urgent and concerned look on his face.

Seeing the look on Ben's face and the sound of mumbled words coming out of Ben's mouth made the person remember that they still had their hand over his mouth and quickly removed it.

"Sorry about that, now what were you saying?" the person asked in a quiet voice.

"Who's looking for you?" he asked in a low but urgent tone, remembering to keep his voice down.

The person avoided eye contact with Ben as they weren't sure how to answer the question without bringing more confusion into the mix. However knowing that they were pressed for time, the direct answer would just have to suffice. The person just hoped that Ben would actually believe them. With a sigh the person looked back at Ben with a serious expression all over their face.

"The ones who are looking for me are Kevin and _Gwen_," the person answered while purposely adding emphasis to Gwen's name causing Ben's eyes to fill with confusion.

"What?" asked Ben with a clueless expression adorned on his face almost making the other person laugh.

However seeing how stupefied and confused Ben really was, the person instantly became serious once again and realized that they needed to explain the whole story and quickly at that. A tired groan came from the person as they were ready to do some heavy explaining.

"It all started when I left your house this morning…"

* * *

Gwen and Kevin were now only a few blocks away from Ben's school when they suddenly spotted Julie walking on the sidewalk by herself. Noticing this, Gwen immediately told Kevin to pull over to where Julie was. Julie recognizing the car that was pulling up beside her; stopped walking and turned to the front window which Gwen had already rolled down so they could speak to each other face to face.

"Hey Julie, do you know where Ben is? It's kind of important," Gwen asked her causing a slight frown to come on Julie's face as she remembered Ben's sudden urgency from earlier.

"I think he went back to the school. Something caught his attention but I'm not sure what it was. But from the look on his face it seemed to be serious," Julie explained making Gwen and Kevin look at each other with serious looks on their faces.

"So I was right, whoever or whatever I was chasing was coming after Ben," Gwen stated with a hint of worry in her tone.

"Then we better hurry, he may need our help," replied Kevin as he turned his attention back to the road, ready to drive off.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" asked Julie in concern.

"Thanks for the offer Julie but it's probably best if you stay out of this one since we don't know what we're dealing with yet," Gwen answered giving Julie a grateful smile.

"Ok then, just call me if you guys need anything."

"Don't worry we will," Gwen told her in sympathy, understanding exactly where Julie was coming from.

Gwen then rolled up the car window which was the signal for Kevin to hit the gas and go.

"Good luck!" hollered Julie as she watched the car go farther and farther away from her.

Even though they had been some distance away when Julie said this, they both heard her perfectly.

"I have a feeling we're going to need it too," mumbled Kevin with a grim look on his face.

It took them five minutes to finally reach the school and they hastily got out of the car and took a quick look around for anything suspicious. When nothing seemed out of the ordinary it only made the two more wary than before.

"I'll try contacting Ben," announced Gwen as she took out her Plumber's badge and activated the communication link.

"Ben, are you there?"

Sadly there was no response coming from the other end so she tried again.

"Ben, come in!" she yelled with exigency not liking the fact that she still wasn't getting any answer.

With no response at all, Gwen with a huff dejectedly gave up of trying to contact Ben.

"Looks like we'll just have to track him down then," Kevin remarked as he took out his own Plumber's badge and activated the locator on it.

The 3-D map was projected from the badge, yet to Kevin and Gwen's surprise four green blinking dots appeared on the map instead of three like they expected.

"The other two signals are coming from inside the school so one of them must be Ben," deduced Kevin.

"But then that means the person we're looking for also has a Plumber's badge. Could it be another plumber or even a rogue?" wondered Gwen with a thoughtful expression.

"Or a DNAlien, remember we've run into a few that's had them too," Kevin reminded her, which didn't exactly make Gwen feel any better about the situation.

"Then we better not waste anymore time. I'll check out one of the signals and you check out the other," instructed Gwen as she activated the location map on her own Plumber's badge.

"Fine, I'll check out the one that's coming from the back then," proclaimed Kevin.

"And I'll take the one in the middle."

With that settled, the two separated and hurried off to their specific destinations.

* * *

Kevin made his way through the hallways of the school as he continued to track the signal. He soon ended up near a set of doors that led to the gymnasium.

"Looks like whoever it is, is on the other side of that door. Better suit up just in case," Kevin commented to himself as he placed his hand on the metal door handles and covered his entire body with the same metal.

Kevin very slowly and carefully opened the door trying not to make a sound. Kevin poked his head inside the room and looked around the gym only to see it completely empty. This however made him very wary as he was sure he was being lead into some type of trap.

"This just screams trap," muttered Kevin as he walked further into the gym with his eyes shifting left and right, waiting for something to pounce him at any second.

Now in the middle of the gym with still no sign of anything, Kevin decided to check his badge for the signal to see if he could pinpoint the exact location of whomever it was that was he was looking for. Nonetheless when he saw the status on the map his eyes widened in surprise.

"That's weird, according to this I'm right where the signal is. Maybe this thing is busted," Kevin proclaimed to himself in confusion as he began examining the badge in his hand.

Kevin was so preoccupied with the badge that he wasn't aware of a blue transparent creature coming up through the floor right behind him.

"Actually it's working perfectly," a raspy yet familiar voice stated, which startled Kevin and made him quickly turn around to face the sight of Big Chill in its robed form.

Unfortunately Kevin wasn't all too happy when he realized that it was Ben who had just spooked him like that.

"Dude, seriously don't do that! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Kevin yelled giving Ben an irritated glare.

Despite Kevin's outburst Ben remained impassive and to Kevin's surprise, shot his ice breath directly at Kevin. Kevin's instincts quickly kicked in as he hastily moved out of the way of the attack, leaving the area he was just stating in covered in ice. Seeing that he missed his target, Ben immediately shot out more ice breath at where Kevin had moved to. Kevin successfully dodged the next attack yet he was defiantly starting to get angry with confusion at why Ben was attacking him.

"Ben, what are you doing? Have you completely lost it?" shouted Kevin while dodging yet another incoming ice breath.

However the response Kevin got was not the once he liked at all.

"No I haven't, but you're about to lose this match," Ben declared as he unfolded Big Chill's wings and flew speedily towards Kevin.

Kevin seeing the fast approaching necrofriggian, tried desperately to search around the gym for anything he could use to help him. Though that's when he noticed that there wasn't really anything of use for him to use. Any equipment had been put away, there was no other matter he could absorb that would be effective in this situation, the gym being a huge spacious room with only the bleachers being the one good but obvious place to hide was pointless right now, and of course Kevin knew it was pointless to go hand to hand against Big Chill since he would just go intangible anyway.

"Oh man, this really was a trap," Kevin said as he banged his hand against his head in annoyance before deciding to try and run for it even though he knew it was pointless.

Big Chill was now flying directly above Kevin and made his move as he shot several spears of ice in front of Kevin's path successfully stopping him in his tracks. Not wasting anytime, Big Chill launched more ice at Kevin surrounding him on all sides and then using his cryokinesis to encase Kevin's lower and upper body in ice leaving only his head and neck free. Kevin tried moving any part of his body in an attempt to break free from the ice yet not only could he move but he was stunned when the metal around his body started feeling tight and uncomfortable. Not liking the feeling one bit, Kevin was prepared to get rid of the body coating until the voice of Big Chill intervened.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you. If you remove the metal you could possible freeze to death. Though it's a shame that metal shrinks when it's cooled, it must be really uncomfortable for you," answered Ben with a mocking tone in his voice, knowing he successfully bested Kevin making him feel pretty good at the moment.

"When I get out of here, you're going to get it Tennyson!" threatened Kevin as he tried even harder to break free from his confinement.

Ben simply landed in front of Kevin before pressing the Omnitrix on his chest and turned back into his human form.

"Yeah, I'm sure you will which is why I'm enjoying this moment for all its worth," Ben replied with a teasing grin.

When Kevin saw that grin on Ben's face, he realized that Ben had no intention of really hurting him and had taken this like another one of their sparing matches that they would have on occasion. With this discovery, Kevin let his anger simmer a bit before speaking again.

"Fine, you win this one. Can you let me out now?" gaudily asked Kevin, not liking it but having to admit defeat.

The grin on Ben's mouth was swiped away and replaced with a thin line causing his whole face to regain a strict look.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Kevin, not now anyway," Ben answered seriously letting Kevin know he wasn't joking around anymore with him.

"And why is that?" Kevin questioned back with a hard tone while narrowing his eyes in suspicion at Ben.

Ben was just getting ready to answer Kevin's question until the static sound of someone's voice coming from the Omnitrix was heard.

"**Dweeb1 are you there? This is Dweeb2 come in Dweeb1,"** the voice asked quickly getting Ben's immediate attention.

"I need to take this, I'll be right back," Ben said to Kevin nonchalantly excusing himself from Kevin's presence and quickly heading out of the gym. Now in the hallway standing in front of the gym doors, Ben took a quick look around to make sure no one was there before he activated the Omnitrix's communication feature to respond back to the person that had contacted him.

"Dweeb1 here, what's up?" answered Ben.

"**Just wanted to know how it is going on your end?" **was the simply reply.

"Perfect, I've already captured and contained Kevin just as planned."

"**Good, now we don't need to worry about Kevin interfering. It looks like my target is closing in now. I'll call you back when I'm done on my end." **

"Ok, but call me if you need any help," Ben responded with some concern in his voice.

"**I will, Dweeb2 over and out,"** the person finished as the communication was cut off on both ends.

With the conversation over, Ben headed back inside the gym to keep watch over Kevin, however to Ben's shock when he returned to the gym all there was to be found were shattered pieces of ice on the floor where Kevin had been. Ben hastily ran over to where the pile of broken ice laid as urgency came onto his face.

"Oh man, this isn't good," stated Ben.

"You've got that right Tennyson!" came Kevin's sudden battle cry as he, now covered from head to toe in a body coat of ice, ran up to Ben and punched him on the side of his face.

The unexpected blow was enough to throw Ben to the ground and render him unconscious. Seeing that he had successfully knocked out Ben, Kevin dropped the coat of ice from his body leaving nothing but his natural skin.

"Looks like I won this one after all," Kevin commented with a smirk to the unconscious Ben.

* * *

Gwen's Plumber's badge had ended up leading her to the doors to the school's cafeteria. Gwen checked her badge once more and noticed that the signal was indeed inside the cafeteria yet it hadn't moved at all.

"_Fine, if that's how you're going to play then I'll play,"_ Gwen thought to herself knowing very well that whoever was behind these doors were setting up some kind of trap for her.

Gwen mentally prepared herself for a possible battle as she felt the mana start to form in her hands. She didn't waste her time trying to be subtle as she already figured the person knew she was coming in anyway. When she entered the cafeteria, her eyes quickly roamed over every inch of the place until her eyes spotted something very familiar on one of the cafeteria tables. She quickly went over to the table and saw that her eyes hadn't been tricking her when she saw the familiar item.

"It's the Omnitrix. But how?" Gwen wondered in surprise as she took the said item off of the table and into her hands.

But at that moment the said Omnitrix disappeared in a burst of magenta light, leaving Gwen's hands completely empty. Realization dawned on Gwen's face that she had been tricked and felt anger at herself for easily falling for the obvious illusion.

"You know, for someone who is supposed to be me, you're not all that smart are you," a very recognizable voice commented from behind her.

Gwen immediately turned around to face the mysterious person and the second her eyes landed on the person her eyes widened in complete shock. For standing right in front of her with an amused look on their face was herself.

**A/N: Yes there are two Gwens and yes the main issue is going to be which one is the real one. However it is going to be more complicated than that and hopefully more promising then the show's attempts at the Evil Twins thing. **

**Hope you've enjoyed this chapter!**


	5. Twice the Trouble

**A/N: Well what can I say, I felt like writing another chapter for this story. Ok now since there are two Gwens I suggest you read the chapter very carefully because I'm not going to name the Gwens, Gwen1 and Gwen2 or something like that because I feel it breaks the flow of the writing. I also don't think it's fair to call one of them Gwendolyn and one Gwen either. I believe I made it clear which Gwen I'm referring to in the chapter so if you get confused you just have to read more carefully. **

**Now on with the chapter! **

**Twice the Trouble**

Gwen just couldn't believe what she was seeing. Looking right back at her was a perfect copy of herself. The only difference between them she noticed was that the other Gwen had her hair in a high ponytail. She was still in shock and didn't know how to respond to the situation however her double seemed to radiate an air of confidence that proved that she certainly knew more about what was going on than her. That's when something clicked in Gwen's head that made a firm expression come over her face.

"You were the one who was spying on me weren't you?" Gwen accused her look alike.

"And the one you were chasing which might I add you didn't do a good job of keeping up with me," she replied with a crack of a smirk on her lips.

This made Gwen become suspicious as more things were starting to piece together in her head and yet there were still some things she needed answered. When she remembered exactly where she was and why she had been worried when she was in pursuit, it made her become angry instead.

"What have you done with Ben?" Gwen demanded fearing that her double may have tricked her cousin and placed him in some kind of danger.

Unfortunately the statement had caused the other Gwen to narrow her eyes in contempt at her as a hardened look plastered onto her face. Before Gwen knew what hit her, her double unexpectedly launched a mana attack at her which caused her to be knocked forcibly to the ground. Her copy's fists were now surrounded by mana and she sent streams of it at Gwen to bind her in place. Using the streams of mana like a rope, she lifted Gwen from the ground and slammed her hard against the wall making Gwen let out a painful cry. The other Gwen now kept her in place with the binds of mana around Gwen as she moved in closer with furry in her eyes.

"Don't you dare act as if you actually care about Ben! If anyone is a danger to him it's you!" she shouted back with venom evident in her tone.

Hearing this made Gwen stare in confusion at her twin and she had no problem voicing her confusion.

"What are you talking about? How could I be a danger to Ben? You're the Albedo around here," retorted Gwen, however the other didn't get the reference bringing a puzzled expression on her face.

"Albedo?" she wondered in confusion at not knowing at all who the person was.

Nonetheless because of her confusion, her concentration on her mana binds was slipping thus losing their hold on Gwen. This allowed her to quickly retaliate by sending a blast of mana from her hand into the other Gwen's stomach and her being the one to get knocked down to the floor. A triumphant smile graced her lips as the mana holding her disappeared and she was free once again.

"Guess you're not a perfect copy of me after all," Gwen stated realizing that her double apparently didn't have all of her memories.

This only irritated the other Gwen as she rose up from the floor with a livid glare and her mana exhibiting a bright hot pink completely encasing her fists.

"If anyone's the copy here it's you!" she exclaimed sending a powerful blast of mana in Gwen's direction.

Gwen immediately but up a mana shield to block the oncoming attack, but to her shock the attack had easily broken her shield and hit her dead on in the chest making her slid backward until her back slammed agonizingly against the wall.

"_Ok, that one definitely hurt,"_ thought Gwen as a groan escaped her mouth.

Her double wasn't finished however, as mana was still over her fists while walking closer towards her target.

"You're through impersonating me! You and the highbred tried to take my life away from me but now it's my turn to return the favor! And I think I'll start with you!" she announced strongly with her eyes now turning completely pink before sending another powerful blast of mana heading for Gwen.

When Gwen saw the attack her eyes widened in fright with the knowledge that the power of that blast would indeed kill her if it hit. Gwen immediately sent her own blast of mana in an attempt to stop the attack however only some resistance was meant as the blast from the double slowly but surely continued onward. In fact Gwen started to notice that not only did the blast continue on forward but that it was actually feeding off her own mana and making it more powerful. Gwen was now at a loss what to do. If she continued using her own mana to hold off the attack it would just get bigger and more powerful until it eventually hit her. But if she stopped her mana the force that was slowing down the attack would stop and the attack would hit her quicker leaving her no time to get out of the way of it. In other words she was stuck and no matter the outcome, it would end with her death.

"_I can't hold it anymore!"_ Gwen thought desperately as the power of the attack become too much and she became too exhausted to hold it off any longer.

Gwen's arms soon slumped down to her sides in exhaustion and her eyes closed in defeat as the blast of powerful mana was now heading speedily towards her. Luckily just as she was about to be hit, she felt someone tackle her out of the way and to the ground before the person covered her body with theirs in a means of protection. The sound of a huge explosion was heard no doubt from the powerful blast of mana blasting the wall instead of its initial target. It was only when she was sure that the attack had passed that Gwen had opened her eyes in shock and saw who it was that had saved her.

"Kevin!" exclaimed Gwen happily realizing that he had been her savior.

Kevin, whose body was covered in metal, gave her a concerned look.

"You ok?" he asked wanting to make sure that she was alright.

"I'm fine now thanks to you," she replied gratefully with a warm smile.

He returned the smile back glad that Gwen was fine. Kevin then stood up and offered his hand to help Gwen up to which she gladly accepted. Once they both were up on their feet, they took a look around the cafeteria and saw scattered debris everywhere and of course a huge gaping hole in the wall where the blast of mana had blown through. The outside could clearly be seen through the hole and it was so big that a mob could go through it. In fact there were still streams of smoke coming from its edges as the heat from the powerful blast still was present around its sides. Gwen had been awestruck by the clear evidence of just how powerful that blast was and the fact that it was her double ganger that caused the gigantic hole in the wall.

Remembering her look alike, Gwen spotted her in the same place she had been when she first launched her attack. Though now instead of the anger that had been previously on her face, shock had took its place as her eyes returned to normal and the mana vanished from her hands. Gwen noticed that she was staring at Kevin with that look making her wonder why her copy was so surprised by Kevin's appearance, even though it was sudden. As for the said double, her mind was racing when she had realized that Kevin was there and that he had saved Gwen.

"_Kevin? But how, Ben said he took care of him. So how come he's here unless…"_

Gwen immediately began to worry when the shock had left her double's face, and determination and fury took over her face instead. Before they knew what happened, a ball of mana hit Kevin right in his chest taking his breath away as he landed painfully on the floor.

"What did you do to Ben?" the other Gwen yelled at Kevin as she was preparing another attack for him.

That statement confused Gwen not understanding what she was talking about, yet Kevin instantly pieced it together and knew exactly what the double meant.

"So it was you who planned everything. I should have known that Ben wasn't smart enough to come up with a trap like that by himself," stated to her with a smirk as he slowly got up from the ground.

The statement only caused Gwen more confusion and made the other one angrier before she shot another ball of mana at him and knocked him off of his feet once more.

"I'll ask you again! What did you do to Ben?" she demanded not taking her glaring eyes off of Kevin.

Unluckily that was a mistake on her part as she was shot by a beam of mana that pushed her hard against a wall. A moan left her lips as she slid down to the ground with a painful throbbing in her back. A grin formed on Gwen's lips at the successful hit.

"How's that for an answer," mocked Gwen before turning her eyes toward Kevin while still keeping her sights on her copy as well.

"Are you alright?" she asked Kevin as she watched him get back on his feet once more.

"Yeah just peachy, so what do you make of her?" questioned Kevin walking over to Gwen and joining her in looking at the slumped form of the other Gwen.

"I don't know but I'm going to find out," Gwen proclaimed seriously before she began walking toward her double.

The said double seeing Gwen approaching, started slowly but surely standing up from her previous position and meant Gwen's eyes with a hard glare as mana once again surrounded her hands. Gwen stopped when she saw this and instantly launched a mana blast at her opponent before her look alike could retaliate. But to the surprise of everyone in the room, in that second Chromastone had speedily flown into the cafeteria and landed right in front of the other Gwen to intercept and absorb the mana blast before it could hit her.

"Stay away from her!" heatedly shouted Chromastone before launching two energy beams from his fists which slammed into Gwen and Kevin successfully incapacitating them for the moment.

Sure that they were out for the time being, Chromastone turned his attention to the one he had just protected and noticed a few cuts and scrapes on her person.

"Gwen, are you alright?" he asked in concern causing a light smile to grace her lips.

"I'm fine now thanks to you," she answered sincerely, not realizing that she had repeated the other Gwen's exact words to Kevin when he asked a similar question.

Believing her words that she was alright, Ben reverted back to his normal human self with a relieved look on his face. Nonetheless when he reverted back a darkened purple bruise was shown clearly on his right cheek making the smile wipe off Gwen's face instantly.

"I can't believe you're asking me am I alright when you're the one that's obviously been hurt," she replied with a bit of annoyance in her voice while lightly touching the bruise on Ben's cheek making Ben wince from the still sensitive spot.

Gwen frowned when she saw Ben's reaction to her touching the bruise. Seeing the solemn expression on her face, Ben let a grin come to his lips in an effort to ease the obvious worry she had for him.

"Come on Gwen this is nothing. I've been hurt much worse than this you know," he said confidently as he gently removed her hand from the side of his face.

That statement however didn't make her feel better as Ben had thought it would. She didn't like the idea of Ben getting hut yet she did have plenty of memories that reminded her of how true Ben's statement was. Realizing how many times he would get injured or his life had been in danger caused a strong feeling of protectiveness to grow inside of her. After all she really did care about Ben and after all the times he's looked out for her, including this time, she felt that the least she could do is do the same for him.

"_I'll protect Ben no matter what it takes,"_ she vowed strongly to herself knowing that she meant it wholeheartedly.

She was suddenly brought out of her deep thought when she heard her name being called and felt a comforting hand placed on her shoulder. This made her look at the person who the hand belonged to and noticed the worried look Ben was giving her.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something," she assured Ben with a smile after realizing she had been lost in her thoughts for a bit there.

This seemed to ease Ben yet there was still a serious expression on his face.

"What about?" he questioned, having a gut feeling that whatever she had been thinking about was really important.

Gwen wasn't sure if she should reveal what she had been thinking about to Ben especially since it was about him in the first place. Fortunately for her, sounds of groaning interrupted their conversation and make them turn to the pair that had made the sounds. Kevin and the other Gwen were coming to which immediately made Gwen on edge as she was itching for another round with her double. Ben himself became alert when he saw the two now getting up on their feet and became anxious for his own rematch with Kevin.

Kevin was the first one to notice the battle ready looks they were sending them and quickly got in a battle stance of his own. However the Gwen that was beside him was not preparing for battle. Instead she was staring at Ben in confusion wondering why he appeared to be on her lookalike's side. Ben had obviously noticed her stare because he immediately returned her stare with an angry glare bringing great surprise to her. She couldn't believe that Ben had given her such a hateful look. Not wanting to see the resentment in Ben's eyes anymore, she turned her attention to her copy and witnessed the complacent smirk on her lips that was directed at her. This made Gwen boil with hostility when she figured that her double must have tricked Ben into believing she was the fake.

"Ben, I don't know what lies she told you but she's the fraud not me!" Gwen angrily told Ben while pointing an accusing finger at the other Gwen.

"Seriously Tennyson even I can tell the difference. Just look at that hole in the wall that she created. Gwen's not that powerful," Kevin stated adding his own two cents while pointing to the said hole in the wall, however the last part of his statement didn't please Gwen all that much.

"Gee thanks Kevin," she replied in sarcasm giving Kevin an annoyed look which he just shrugged his shoulders at since he knew that they both knew he was telling the truth.

As for Ben, he had heard what Kevin said and out of curiosity had turned to where Kevin pointed at to see the large gaping hole for himself.

"How did I miss that?" Ben asked himself as he stared wide eyed at the amount of damage done to the wall.

"And guess what else, the attack that caused that missed Gwen," Kevin sternly revealed to Ben causing Ben to immediately face Kevin in shock.

"W-What?" stuttered Ben, not believing what he was hearing, yet Kevin had no problem making sure he got the message loud and clear.

"That's right, if I hadn't saved her she would be dead! The real Gwen would never try killing someone!" Kevin proclaimed strongly at Ben which in turn made Ben face the other Gwen with uncertainty written all over his face.

"Did you really try to kill her?" he asked her softly, hoping that what Kevin said wasn't true and that the Gwen he thought was real didn't turn out to be the wrong one.

However the moment Ben had turned to her, he was shocked to see the start of tears coming down her cheeks. Gwen and Kevin had also just noticed the double's tear-stricken face and became at a loss for what to make of the sudden tears.

"I-I…didn't mean…I-I" she distraughtly stuttered before she started trembling uncontrollably with her arms securely wrapped around herself.

Ben's heart ached at the sight of the other Gwen breaking down right in front of him. Before Ben could even register what he was doing, he hastily covered his arms around her and pressed her as close to him as possible. She gladly accepted the embrace and buried herself into Ben's chest as the tears continued to fall.

"Oh Ben-n, w-what have t-they turned m-me into-o?" she cried while hiccupping though almost each word with her hands now grabbing Ben's shirt in a tight grip.

It only took a few seconds of confusion after hearing this before Ben had soon remembered what happened last night and the important reason to why she had been and apparently was still so vulnerable. The anger that Ben had at the Highbreeds after he learned they had captured his cousin had suddenly came back full force from seeing Gwen breaking down like this and it was now growing to a dangerous level. Yet the trembling girl in his arms swiftly brought him back to his senses as she had pulled on his jacket to get his attention.

"D-Don't let your anger get the b-best of you. I-I did and look w-what happened," she told him gently so only Ben could hear her while letting her eyes briefly scan the cafeteria to see all the damage she had caused because of the fight.

Ben had a sympathetic but sorrowful look on his face as he too glanced around the cafeteria. He understood why she almost did what she did during the fight and he couldn't really blame her. Being imprisoned for so long, finally breaking free and returning home to find that someone had replaced you must have been horrible. To find out that it was because of some copy that no one knew she was gone, that no one knew she was in trouble, that no one had looked for her, and most importantly that no one had missed her. It only made sense that she would take out all of her aggression on the one that had replaced her and took over her life.

"Shush, it's going to be alright Gwen," Ben affectionately whispered to her while rubbing her back in a soothing way in hopes to calm her down.

This seemed to do the trick as the tears were flowing less and her body was becoming more relaxed in Ben's embrace. They both stayed like this for a while before Gwen had slowly removed herself out of Ben's grasp and gave him a firm look.

"I have to fix this," she stated seriously to which Ben nodded affirmatively to before they removed from each other completely.

Gwen wasn't exactly ready to face her counterpart so instead she decided to clean up the mess she had caused in the cafeteria. She closed her eyes in concentration and lifted her hands up in front of her as a light pink aura of mana surrounded her whole body. She then made a sweeping motion with her hands causing a wave of mana to cover over the entire cafeteria. Everything the wave touched was fixed instantly including the hole in the wall which now made the wall look like new. Once everything was back to the way it was, the aura of mana dissipated from Gwen's body and she opened her eyes to see the amazed expressions on everyone's faces.

She allowed a small amused smile to slip on her lips at the look on their faces. Nonetheless she knew that the next important thing she had to do called for seriousness thus she wiped the smile completely from her lips. She took a deep breath before gradually walking in hesitance up to her double and locking her eyes with hers. They both stood there staring at the other in awkward silence with both not entirely sure what to make of each other. However knowing she couldn't put this off any longer, Gwen let out a defeated sigh with her eyes downcast not feeling comfy with looking at her look alike at the moment.

"I'm sorry that I almost killed you," she muttered nervously while she subconsciously hugged herself to seek some kind of comfort.

The other Gwen didn't respond right away to her double's apology causing her to feel even more nervous and guilty at what she had almost did.

"I understand why you can't forgive me, just know that I'm sorry," she said sadly before turning her back to Gwen and returning to Ben's side.

"Can _we_ go now?" she asked Ben softly with clear exhaustion in her voice as she looked at him with pleading eyes.

Ben quickly discovered Gwen's hidden question to him and wondered if he should indeed leave with her. He spared a glance at the other Gwen to see nothing but confusion and confliction all over her face which is probably why she couldn't respond to the other's apology at all. She was obviously still in shock by the whole situation and most likely needed some comfort at the moment too. Though, when Ben glanced in Kevin's direction Kevin's attention was on the Gwen beside him showing obvious concern for her well being. As if sensing he was being watched, Kevin's eyes meant Ben's and that was when Ben had made up his mind of what to do.

"Kevin, remember what we talked about. I'm counting on you," Ben said to Kevin, referring to their earlier discussion revolving Gwen.

"I'm on it," replied Kevin to which Ben sent him a grateful look knowing that he could trust Kevin with the other Gwen.

Turning his focus back on the Gwen beside him Ben gave her a reassuring smile while taking her hand gently in his.

"Yeah, we can go now," he told her kindly bringing a relieved and happy expression on Gwen's face while tightening her hand around his in return.

With that the two left out of the cafeteria together leaving Kevin and Gwen by themselves. Kevin had watched how Ben had behaved towards Gwen's double making it very clear which one Ben favored. Yet Kevin wasn't the only one to come to the same conclusion which is why when Kevin turned to face Gwen he saw a hurtful and muddled expression on her features as she continued to stare vacantly at the place where Ben and her look alike had been. Seeing Gwen with that look made the only thing to run through Kevin's mind was to comfort Gwen as much as possible. He placed a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder making Gwen snap out of her daze and turn to face Kevin.

"For what it's worth, I know you're real," stated Kevin with a smile.

Gwen returned the smile knowing that Kevin was trying to cheer her up and that she at least still had him on her side.

"Thanks Kevin, that means a lot to me," she responded in a cheerier voice which made Kevin happy to see Gwen in a better mood.

"Come on, let's get out of here," suggested Kevin pointing his thumb at the exit doors of the cafeteria.

To his surprise Gwen placed a small kiss on his check in gratitude causing Kevin to blush before they too soon left the cafeteria.

**A/N: Well hope you enjoyed the chapter. Until the next update!**


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